Protektorat Böhmen und Mähren

Protektorat Böhmen und Mähren
Conventional long name	Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia
Common name	Bohemia and Moravia
Status	Puppet state
Empire	Nazi Germany
Era	World War II
Event start	Establishment
Date start	15 March 1939
Event end	Dissolution
Date end	8 May 1945
Predecessor	Second Czechoslovak Republic
Successor	Czechoslovakia
Capital	Prague
Government type	Civil administration under Reich Protector

Protektorat Böhmen und Mähhren The Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia was a political entity created after the German occupation of Czech lands in 1939, serving as an administrative unit within the sphere of Nazi Germany during World War II. It encompassed the central Czech lands including Prague and regions of Bohemia and Moravia, and functioned under direct oversight from figures such as Konstantin von Neurath and Reinhard Heydrich. The Protectorate's existence affected relations among states like United Kingdom, France, Soviet Union, and institutions such as the League of Nations and the Allied powers.

Background and Establishment

Following the Munich Agreement of 1938, which involved Adolf Hitler, Neville Chamberlain, Édouard Daladier, and Benito Mussolini, the Second Czechoslovak Republic lost territory to the Sudetenland annexation and to Poland and Hungary. The collapse of Czechoslovak autonomy prompted the German occupation of remaining Czech territories on 15 March 1939, after the proclamation of the Slovak Republic under Jozef Tiso and the abdication of President Emil Hácha. Germany established the Protectorate, formalized by decrees from the German Reich and implemented through offices like the Reich Ministry of the Interior and the German Foreign Office.

Political and Administrative Structure

Administration of the Protectorate was nominally civilian, centered on the office of the Reich Protector—initially Konstantin von Neurath and later replaced by Reinhard Heydrich and Kurt Daluege as acting protectors—subject to directives from Adolf Hitler and the SS. Local Czech institutions included the Czech National Council and the Protectorate government under Prime Ministers like Rudolf Beran and Alois Eliáš, while political control rested with entities such as the Gestapo, SD, and the German High Command (OKW). Legal foundations drew on laws promulgated by the Reichstag and enforced through courts including the People's Court (Volksgerichtshof) and military tribunals influenced by officers from the Wehrmacht.

Economy and War Production

The Protectorate's industrial base—centered in cities like Pilsen, Brno, Ostrava, and Liberec—was integrated into the German war economy, supplying companies including Škoda Works, Baťa, and subcontractors to firms like Krupp, IG Farben, and Siemens. Raw materials from mines in the Ostrava coal basin and factories producing armaments, aircraft parts, and machinery were requisitioned by the Reichswerke Hermann Göring and coordinated with planning bodies such as the Four Year Plan and the Reichswerke. Labor was organized through measures including deportation of workers to the Third Reich, deployment of forced labor overseen by the Deutsche Arbeitsfront, and the use of prisoners from concentration camps like Terezín (Theresienstadt).

Society, Culture, and Repression

Czech cultural life—institutions such as the National Theatre (Prague), the Charles University in Prague, and publishing houses—was constrained by censorship from the Reich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territories and surveillance by the Gestapo and the SD. Repressive policies targeted Jews leading to deportations to Auschwitz concentration camp and Theresienstadt Ghetto, with persecution administered under regulations like the Nuremberg Laws as applied by German authorities and local collaborators. Intellectuals, artists, journalists, and clergy from organizations such as the Czechoslovak Hussite Church faced arrest, exemplified by actions against figures linked to Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk’s legacy and critics of occupation. Cultural life persisted underground through samizdat-like networks and clandestine performances linked to individuals from the Prague Spring generation later remembered by historians.

Resistance and Collaboration

Resistance activities ranged from political dissent to armed sabotage by groups such as the Czechoslovak resistance movement, Czech National Liberation Army, and communist cells connected to the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. Notable operations included the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich (Operation Anthropoid) carried out by paratroopers trained by Special Operations Executive and Czechoslovak government-in-exile agents under Edvard Beneš. Collaboration involved Czech officials, industrialists, and police cooperating with German authorities, with figures like Emil Hácha and others implicated in administrative accommodation; economic collaboration connected firms like Škoda to Krupp and financial institutions such as the Bank of Prague.

Military and Security Measures

Security in the Protectorate combined forces from the Gestapo, SS, Kriminalpolizei, and elements of the Wehrmacht stationed to secure transport routes and industrial sites, while German military planning referenced campaigns such as the Western Front (1939) and ties to the Eastern Front (World War II). Occupation measures included curfews, martial law proclamations by the Reich Protector, mass arrests after operations like the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich, and reprisals carried out in villages such as Lidice and Ležáky by units associated with the Sicherheitsdienst. Defensive installations and infrastructure projects were directed by ministries like the Reichswehr successor institutions and by construction firms under orders from the Todt Organization.

Dissolution and Aftermath

The Protectorate effectively ended with the defeat of Nazi Germany in May 1945, concurrent with the Prague uprising involving the Czechoslovak Army and Soviet advance by the Red Army; authority transferred to the Czechoslovak National Committee and leaders such as Edvard Beneš. Postwar processes included war crimes trials related to occupiers and collaborators, property restitution debates involving companies like Škoda Works and nationalization under postwar policies, and population transfers defined by the Potsdam Conference affecting ethnic Germans in the Sudetenland with involvement from states like Poland and institutions such as the United Nations. Memory of the Protectorate has been examined by historians referencing archives from the Nazi Party, Czechoslovak government-in-exile, and scholars connected to universities such as Charles University and institutions like the Czech National Museum.

Category:History of the Czech lands